I recently read about a young Norwegian girl who thinks she’s a cat trapped in a human body.

Yep. Fer realz.

She crawls around on her hands and knees.

Wears a headband that has pointy ears and a “tail.”

She even wears mittens that look like cat paws.

Her ‘feline tendencies’ include a superior sense of hearing and sight, a hatred of water, and the  ability to communicate in ‘meows’.

She even tries to hunt mice in the dark. However, she’s not caught one yet.

Her psychologist (you knew there had to be one, right?) thinks she’ll grow out of this “thing,” but she isn’t sure if she’s ever going to stop behaving like a cat.

She thinks she’ll “be a cat all my life.”

Perception is a powerful thing. 

And marketing is built upon perception.

This poor, deluded girl thinks she’s a cat. But she isn’t.

Your buyer might think she’s going in the right direction.

But she’s not.

Marketing today is often about guidance. Education.

Helping a prospective buyer understand that what they’re doing isn’t really helping them get the results they want.

This again, goes back to positioning your product in the right way. It all ties in together.

Just yesterday, I read a story about someone who tried to reach out to a contact to refer people to his business.

He was blocked and intercepted by an overly eager gatekeeper who said if this person really “knew” the contact, the assistant would see if she could sneak him into his schedule.

“Otherwise,” she said, “you’ll need to speak with me.”

What did that response do to the perception of the business?

Yeah. Killed it.

This is why I often talk about your brand and how important it is to:

1) Know what you stand for and the message you want to project and

2) Ruthlessly monitor that brand.  This means if you hire people, make sure they’re representing your brand well.

If you’re on your own, make sure your actions are aligned with your brand’s messaging.

It’s all about perception.

You can be viewed as totally fruit-loopy, like someone who crawls around on all fours thinking you’re a cat…

… or the smart, competent business professional  who knows how to help a prospective buyer get the results she wants.

Reach out to me if you need help figuring it out.

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Switching gears: Do you have a podcast or do you know someone who does?

I’ve not mentioned this before, but Mickey and I have a podcast together called “Take Aim.”  We already have recorded five episodes.

Our topics (so far) cover: freelancing, time management, and personal branding.

We’re also available for interviews. To book an interview for your podcast click here to contact me.

Mickey’s topics are: time management, positive thinking, goal-setting and creativity.

My topics are: productivity for the solopreneur, marketing, branding, email marketing and copywriting.

Also, one more thing: I don’t like turning interviews down.  But I don’t like wasting time, either. So in your email please tell me the topic you want me to talk about, how you plan to use it and some details about your audience (how big is it, what do they most want to learn about, etc) I’ll respond promptly.

Meanwhile, we have lots more planned for the “Take Aim” podcast, so take a listen and let us know what you think.
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